Wells Fargo claws back another $75m from former bosses

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John Stumpf, who led the bank at the time, resigned over the scandal

Wells Fargo has clawed back a further $75m (£60.3m) from two former executives in the wake of a fake accounts scandal.

Former boss John Stumpf will give back $28m, while Carrie Tolstedt will lose share options worth $47m.

Last year it emerged staff at the bank had set up two million deposit and credit card accounts in customers’ names without their approval.

The US bank was accused of “widespread illegal activity” and fined.

Both Mr Stumpf, who was chief executive at the time, and Ms Tolstedt, who ran the the Community Bank division responsible for the illegal activities, resigned over the affair.

‘Negative information’

The latest clawbacks were announced as the bank published a 110-page report on the causes of the scandal.

It said Mr Stumpf had been “too slow to investigate or critically challenge sales practices” at the bank, or to “appreciate the seriousness of the problem”.

Meanwhile, Ms Tolstedt “did not like to be challenged or hear negative information”.

“Community Bank leadership resisted and impeded outside scrutiny or oversight and, when forced to report, minimised the scale and nature of the problem,” it said.

In total, Mr Stumpf has paid back $69m while Ms Tolstedt has given back $67m over the scandal.

Lawyers for Ms Tolstedt, who declined to be interviewed for the investigation, rejected the report’s findings.

“We strongly disagree with the report and its attempt to lay blame with Ms Tolstedt. A full and fair examination of the facts will produce a different conclusion,” said Enu Mainigi of law firm Williams & Connolly.

The bank was fined $185m by regulators last year and has paid $110m to settle a lawsuit brought by customers.